Britain to decide on new Heathrow runway by end of year
ATP- Arab tourism portal- London: Britain will decide whether to proceed with a £23 billion ($36 billion; Dh132.8 billion) plan for a third runway at Heathrow Airport by the end of the year, Prime Minister David Cameron said last week , setting up six months of political skirmishes over the issue.Lawmakers broadly agree that the London area needs a new runway to remain economically competitive but its location has been disputed for over 25 years.
Proposals to expand Heathrow in densely populated west London are politically divisive and likely to fuel tensions in the ruling Conservative party.
Cameron set the deadline after a government-appointed commission selected Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, as the preferred location for expansion, following a three-year study.“A decision will made before the end of the year,” Cameron told parliament.
“It is important, now that there is a very detailed report, that we study and are very clear about the legal position. If we say anything now before studying the report, we will endanger whatever decision is made.”Should he back a new runway at Heathrow, it would represent a U-turn for Cameron, who when in opposition in 2009 said that would not happen under his watch, “no ifs, no buts”.
The commission’s recommendation was accompanied by measures to limit the noise and environmental impact of a new runway.A previous expansion plan for Heathrow was scrapped in 2010.
The new proposal was described by the Airports Commission as “fundamentally different”, citing accompanying conditions to ban night flights and introduce a noise levy.The Heathrow runway plan beat two other shortlisted options, another at Heathrow and one at the country’s second largest airport Gatwick.
It offered the best way to add “urgently required” long-haul routes to new markets and would provide the most benefits to the wider economy, the commission said.
